Algeria's Parliament Passes Legislation Declaring France's Colonisation a Criminal Act

The Algerian legislature has passed with full support a piece of legislation declaring France’s colonisation of the country a crime and called for an official apology and compensation.

Lawmakers, standing in the chamber wearing scarves in the colors of the Algerian flag, shouted “vive l'Algérie” on the session day as they celebrated the approval of the bill, which declares that the former colonial power holds “accountability for its colonial past in Algeria and the tragedies it caused”.

A Diplomatic Strain and a Symbolic Gesture

The both nations are embroiled in a significant bilateral dispute and analysts note that while Algeria’s action is largely symbolic, it is still politically significant.

“an unambiguous signal, both domestically and externally, that the nation's historical memory is neither erasable nor negotiable.”

The law enumerates the “crimes of colonial rule”, which include atomic tests, extrajudicial killings, “torture” and the “systematic plundering of resources”.

Call for Compensation

It asserts that “complete and just compensation for all material and moral damages caused by colonial rule is an fundamental entitlement of the state and its people”.

French governance over Algeria from 1830 until 1962 was a period characterized by widespread deaths and forced displacements, culminating in the bloody war of independence from the mid-1950s to 1962.

• Algeria says the war killed one and a half million lives.
• French historians estimate the fatalities at 500,000 in total, four hundred thousand of them Algerian.

Official Reaction and Academic View

The French president, President Macron, has in the past recognized the colonial era of Algeria as a “crime against humanity” but has declined to offer an official apology.

Asked last week about the vote, a French foreign ministry spokesperson said he would not discuss “internal political matters taking place in other nations”.

Hosni Kitouni in the history of colonisation, said that “from a legal standpoint, this law has little international force and therefore is not binding for France”. However, “its political and symbolic importance is considerable: it signifies a rupture in the ties with France in terms of historical memory,” he said.